And all of his teeth. One of the most attractive features of a person in the mid-eighteen hundreds was if they still had a full set of teeth by the time they were 30. Few did, and all too many died from bad teeth.geoffs wrote:One quick thought on modern average life style vs kings of 1850. I'm betting a king would be pretty envious of anyone with air conditioning on a hot summer day.
I like the observations made about wealth vs. status and Iron Man. Today rocks! And tomorrow is looking even better. My kids are going to be casually powerful beyond my determined best. The fact that wealthy kids will be even more powerful than mine doesn't negate the fact that my kids are wealthier in real terms than those kings of yore.
The observation was made that wealth is but a means to power. I disagree with that entirely. Power is one end to which wealth can take you, but wealth is also a means to security, to health, to ease and to a great many other things.
I believe that the core of this discussion is that the standard of living has increased over time, and that in real terms we are wealthier now than our predecessors. I think this is an accurate statement. To throw in poetry about the relative wealth of kings of yester-centruy vs. retired engineers of today opens the discussion to interpretations of what "wealth" is. That's beside the point. Any economist will tell you that "real wealth" in this country has increased with time, and at an increasing rate for the last three centuries. How our society divides that increased wealth may be open to opinion, but the fact that the per capita GDP in this country has steadily increased is not.
My thoughts on wealth vs. power and the merits of dental hygiene.
Dean